New Zealand go into Saturday’s Tri-Nations rugby decider against Australia as overwhelming favourites despite lingering injury concerns to flyhalf and goalkicker Leon MacDonald.
The All Blacks are on a high after putting away defending champions South Africa last weekend. Australians meanwhile have lost their past four matches and captain George Gregan has admitted their confidence has suffered.
As the All Blacks go into their 400th Test with a proud 73% winning record, their biggest obstacle could be over-confidence. Coach Graham Henry has drummed into his side a warning that favourites do not always win.
He recalled New Zealand’s recurring nightmare of the 2003 World Cup semifinal when they were rated certainties to beat Australia and came unstuck.
Regardless of the outcome, the Wallabies cannot win the Tri-Nations championship. They are playing for pride with the knowledge that an upset win would hand the title to South Africa.
”The Australians are in an ideal situation really, they’ve got nothing to lose, they’ll throw the kitchen sink at us and hopefully turn their season around,” said Henry.
After the gruelling South Africa encounter, the All Blacks have only had light training during the week, which captain Tana Umaga said had given them the chance to recharge their batteries.
”We feel really good. We’re going to pressure everywhere as much as possible where we feel we can, and if we can gain some ascendancy in those areas we’ll keep going there.”
For Australia to win they need ball and it would take a monumental upset if their forwards can gain the upper hand after being mauled by the New Zealand front row of Carl Hayman, Keven Mealamu and Tony Woodcock in Sydney three weeks ago when the All Blacks won 30-13.
As injuries have forced wholesale changes in the Wallabies line-up, usual flanker George Smith will start in the unaccustomed position of number eight, and they have gambled on fullback Mat Rogers playing at flyhalf after their top three pivots were injured.
Halfback Gregan, who will equal the world record of 114 Test matches when he runs on to Eden park, is also under pressure to hold his place as Australia faces its worst losing streak in 36 years.
But Gregan said his critics needed to look at the quality of opposition as the past four matches had been against the top two ranked teams in the world — New Zealand and South Africa.
”The reality of the situation is that in the last month we’ve dropped a few Test matches by small margins and we’ve been in positions to win those games and close them out,” he said.
”It’s very unusual for Aussie teams to have a losing streak like this so you want to snap out of it, but yeah we’ve lost to quality opposition.”
History shows Eden Park has not been kind to the Wallabies, who last won here in 1986 and have left empty-handed in five visits since.
New Zealand’s stock rose further Friday when halfback Piri Weepu, who had also been under an injury cloud, was cleared to play. However the All Blacks management said they may wait until match time before making a decision on MacDonald who has a hip injury.
The All Blacks have won five of the nine Tri-Nations titles while Australia and South Africa have both won twice. – Sapa-AFP